


Technicolor//Nostalgia

by ButWhosCounting



Category: The Code (TV 2019)
Genre: F/F, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Post-Canon, Reminiscing, Romantic Fluff, Story within a Story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-14 12:07:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29791668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ButWhosCounting/pseuds/ButWhosCounting
Summary: “Miss Maya…hold your woman close, and treat every day with her like it’s your last. Cherish her.”“I will,” she vowed.---------------------------------------------The story of how Maya and Harper became an item.
Relationships: Maya Dobbins & Harper Li
Kudos: 2





	Technicolor//Nostalgia

**Author's Note:**

> This is a one-shot. It is the tiniest bit canon-divergent but mostly post-canon. Enjoy.

_February of 2026_

Maya grasped the handle of the heavy freezer door and pulled, reaching in to pluck a pint of a very specific brand and flavor of ice cream off a shelf, one that she had not laid eyes on in several years. She closed the door and held the cold object in her hand, smiling fondly to herself as she read the label, allowing sparks of memories to flood her consciousness. As hungry college students and noisy families strolled by with carts and baskets, Maya’s mind rippled with images of that warm night in mid-June, a night that would forever alter the trajectory of her life.

_June 21st of 2019_

Maya is working late one Friday evening at the JAG offices in Quantico when she finds Harper crying alone in a stall of the women’s restroom. When Maya sits down across from her and asks her what’s wrong, Harper silently shows her a picture of Bard with another woman on his social media account. His arms are around her and he is kissing her cheek while she sports a wide grin. Harper explains that she only broke up with Bard a week ago and that the woman in the photo is his ex-girlfriend, and wonders out loud to herself if he ever loved or cared for her if he could bounce back so quickly after three years together and almost tying the knot. She wonders if it was all just a waste of time. In the first year of their relationship, Harper explains, she was very much in love with him and thought he was in love with her as well, but in hindsight, she wonders now if she was simply seeing what she wanted to see. _I can so relate to that…_ Maya responds. They talk for a few more minutes until Maya announces that she has the perfect solution for Harper’s post-break-up blues: a night of wine, chocolate, ice cream and a binge-watching session of any comedy show of Harper’s choice. Harper laughs and agrees to Maya’s proposal, even though the two of them had never spent time together outside of work.

They change out of their uniforms and go to the store to purchase their supplies before walking back to Maya’s apartment on base. The wine, food and _Friends_ seems to take Harper’s mind off her troubles for the first hour or so, but before too long she starts crying into her pint of So Delicious Dairy-Free Cashewmilk Salted Caramel ice cream. Maya mutes the TV and proceeds to console Harper the best way she can come up with after having consumed half a bottle of Merlot and a shot of bourbon by herself—she describes Bard with a passionate string of insults and any other colorful words that happen to come to her mind in that moment, which makes Harper snort with laughter. The two of them continue to talk and Maya offers Harper some advice that, even in her very buzzed, grief-stricken state, she not only takes to heart, but carries with her for years to come. Harper gives Maya a small smile of gratitude. _I’ll try,_ she says, and the two of them fall into silence as Harper proceeds to stare at the carton of ice cream in her lap.

 _Can I get you anything else?_ Maya asks, _Wine? Dark chocolate? More Bard ‘Worth-less-ton' insults?_ Harper looks up again, her expression unreadable and her eyes not quite meeting Maya’s, and slowly nods while staying silent. _Oookay…_ Maya responds. _Care to elaborate on what it is you’re wanting?_ Harper locks eyes with her and says _Okay_ softly before she closes the space between them, the pint of ice cream falling off her lap onto the floor. Before Maya can register what’s happening, Harper’s lips are on hers. She feels herself start to melt into the kiss but pulls away quickly.

Harper apologizes, slurring slightly as she explains that she’s been wanting to do that for a while now. _I’m down to keep going,_ she adds with a shrug, _but we don’t have to if you’re not into it._ Maya is surprised by the little voice in her head urging her to take Harper up on her offer. Instead, she says, _You said you’ve been wanting to do that for a long time. How long are we talking, exactly?_ Harper responds without missing a beat, _Months ago, I think. I don’t know exactly._ She shrugs again. _You’re an attractive woman, Maya,_ she states nonchalantly as she picks up her ice cream pint. _Uhh…_ Maya chuckles awkwardly, _look, Harper…I’m flattered, and it’s not that I don’t want to…you’re_ — she looks Harper up and down _—very attractive yourself, but…_ She goes on to reason that they are colleagues first and foremost, that they’ve both had a little too much to drink, and that Harper was still in a vulnerable emotional state because of her break-up, etc. etc. I don’t want to do something that we’ll both end up regretting in the morning. A flicker of disappointment flashes across Harper’s face before her features neutralize once again and she takes a bite of ice cream. _You’re right,_ she agrees, _I’m sorry. Let’s just pretend like it never happened_. She turns to the television and smiles, _Oh—I love this episode._

Maya unmutes the television and the two of them move to the far ends of her couch. She stares at the screen but her mind is replaying the events that took place just moments ago, more specifically, that moment when their lips met. She mutes the TV again suddenly and Harper looks back at her with a raised eyebrow. _Okay_ , Maya gives in, _but just this one ti_ — she is unable to finish her sentence before she is cut off by Harper’s lips reuniting with hers.

It is a little after five am when Maya wakes up in her bed with a pounding headache. She slowly gets up, careful not to wake the sleeping dark-haired woman beside her and puts on a bathrobe. She drinks water, pops some Advil and drinks coffee, before getting dressed in jogging clothes and quietly slipping out her front door with her keys, purposely leaving her cell phone behind. An hour later, she comes home and Harper is gone. There are no messages on her phone. She exhales in relief.

For the next week, they both pretend like nothing happened, steering clear of each other unless they need to discuss work-related matters face to face. That next Friday however, it happens again. They start to hook up in the women’s restroom after everyone has gone home and Harper practically drags Maya to her car where they continue what they started. It happens the following Friday, and the next two Fridays after that, in their cars or in their beds, or that empty Humvee in Afghanistan during a short trip oversees. Neither of them speak about it. By the time Harper leaves for SERE School on a Sunday morning in May, they had spent five Fridays together.

The two of them aren’t in contact for the first week while Harper is away in Maine, until Maya is forced to the break the silence to text her with an urgent work-related question. She doesn’t mind this so much seeing as she misses her colleague, but only a little bit. To her great surprise, Harper also doesn’t seem to mind that Maya texted her in the middle of an intense, physically and emotionally demanding three weeks of instructor training. The texting back and forth continues daily each evening once Harper has cell service and free time. The texts progress to phone calls every other night, until they become a nightly ritual during Harper’s last week in training. Every night at 8pm sharp they talk until Harper passes out from sheer exhaustion at approximately 10pm. Maya counts down the hours each day until she gets to hear Harper’s voice, her melodic laughter and relentless sarcasm, along with a dozen other traits that she had been aware of in previous months but ultimately failed to appreciate. The once desaturated and dusty memories tucked away in the back of her mind of this young woman were becoming crisper and clearer; these black and white recollections receiving a technicolor upgrade.

On the night before Harper is to return to Quantico, Maya musters up the nerve to ask her out to dinner. _I mean,_ Maya says, trying to sound neutral, _if you don’t want to, I completely understand. Just thought I’d ask._ She hears Harper breathe a sigh of relief over the phone line. _I was hoping you would ask,_ she admits. _Seeing as alcohol is strictly prohibited here, I’m unfortunately unable to access that sweet spot somewhere between 0.05 and 0.07 percent blood alcohol levels where I currently keep my cojones._ Maya had never laughed harder up until then, nor would she ever.

The following Saturday night at dinner, they both decide to make it official. A few weeks after that night, Maya would put in a request to Turnbull to be transferred to work under another CO in a different office in the legal branch building on the base, explaining vaguely that she was seeing another Judge Advocate who was also working under Turnbull, and didn’t want their relationship to interfere with her or the other individual’s ability to do their jobs effectively. Turnbull would nod slowly and smirk, as if she had been waiting for Maya to bring this up. _Sure,_ she would answer, _but I just hope you know what you’re getting yourself into. She’s a handful—that Harper Li. Well, it’s been a pleasure working with you, Captain Dobbins._ She would offer her hand and Maya would shake it. _A word of advice,_ she would continue in a hushed tone, even though they would be alone in her office, _if you would like to be a little more discreet in the future, perhaps consider toning down the googly eyes at our meetings. And stop following her derriere with your eyes every single time she walks by._ Maya would give her a curt nod, failing to stop the color from rushing to her face. _I will keep that in mind, ma’am. Thank you._

“Pardon me,” a voice sounded from behind her.

Maya blinked, looking up from the ice cream pint in her hand. “Oh, sorry,” Maya mumbled, embarrassed as she moved out of the way to let an elderly woman access the ice cream selection. “Was just spacing out...it’s all yours now.”

The woman smiled at her kindly. “That’s alright, dear. At my age, I can’t even remember where I left my teeth half the time.”

Maya chuckled. “Well, it looks like you managed to find them today.”

“Oh, these things? I stole these from my neighbor...” she put a finger to her lips. Maya laughed as the woman glanced down at the ice cream in her hand and the items in her basket. “Looks like you’ve got a romantic night ahead of you, dear,” she waggled her eyebrows.

Maya grinned. “Yeah. I’m just doing some last-minute shopping for my wife, actually.”

“Ohh,” the woman cooed. Her eyes seemed to sparkle with nostalgia as a wistful smile slowly spread on her face. “How sweet. How long have you two been together?”

“Hmm,” Maya responded, looking down and furrowing her eyebrows in concentration as she quickly calculated the numbers in her head. “Six and a half years total and four and a half years married, give or take. Best years of my life so far,” she finished with a soft, fond smile.

“That’s wonderful. Have you been to the floral section today? They’ve got a great sale on roses, although I can’t seem to recall what the deal was exactly.” She chuckled self-depreciatingly.

“I was actually just about to head over there. Thanks for the recommendation, Mrs…?” The woman reached into the freezer and selected a pint of Cherries Jubilee from the shelf.

“Oh, you can call me Nell, my dear,” she placed the ice cream in her cart. “Maya.” They shook hands. “Nice to meet you, Nell.”

Nell looked up at Maya warmly and squeezed her hand before letting it go, her expression saturated with nostalgia again. “Miss Maya…hold your woman close, and treat every day with her like it’s your last. Cherish her.”

Maya returned her gaze. “I will,” she vowed.

“Have a happy Valentine’s Day.”

“You too.”

“Oh, I will. I’m spending it with my neighbor.” She gave her a wink and a grin before turning her cart and walking in the opposite direction.

Maya watched her go before looking back down at the pint of So Delicious Dairy-Free Cashewmilk Salted Caramel ice cream in her hand. She carefully placed it in her basket next to the bottle of Merlot and dark chocolate bars.

**Author's Note:**

> A couple things...
> 
> The date I chose was based on the date of Harper's wedding in the show, August 4th, and the fact that SERE school started about 6 weeks from the week Harper broke up with Bard (plus 3 weeks for the actual training itself), and we know that the wedding is sometime within those 9 weeks based on what Abe said in 1x9 I think. 2019 because it was filmed in 2019. But I have no freggin clue if my timeline is accurate. Oh well.
> 
> The reminiscing part of the story is told in present tense because the reader is re-living it in real-time with Maya.
> 
> Realistically, I don't think Harper would have been able to contact anyone during her training at SERE based on the research I've done. Also, irl it takes about a year of training to became a SERE instructor... *facepalm* I cannot with this show and its careless inaccuracies...it does make me feel better about having them in my fics though...
> 
> Lastly... How cute is Nell?? For some reason I was picturing her as old-Rose from the Titanic movie when I wrote for her lol...


End file.
